The Italian senate yesterday approved a bill to give the armed forces powers normally reserved for the police, allowing soldiers to search suspects and vehicles. It was the latest in a series of measures endorsed since July 7 in a country that fears it could be the next terror target. A poll published this week by the daily Corriere della Sera found 85% of Italians fear a terror attack within weeks or months.

Italy makes the biggest contribution to the American-led coalition in Iraq after Britain and the US, with some 3,000 troops. The prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is widely disliked in the Muslim world for remarks after September 11 2001, when he claimed the west's cultural "superiority".

Last Friday, the cabinet endorsed a package of measures allowing police to detain suspects for up to 24 hours, easing restrictions on surveillance of the internet, giving investigators broader access to telephone records and clearing the way for DNA samples to be taken without consent. Many of the measures came into effect immediately, though subject to ratification by parliament.

France

Impressed by the speed and relative ease with which the London bombers and suspects were identified using video surveillance, the French government this week announced plans to install CCTV cameras in every Paris bus and metro corridor before the end of the year. Parliament is to rush through the legislation within three months.

The length of time for which telephone and email records must be stored by service providers will be extended to up to three years, and new procedures will give police access to them without the permission of an investigating magistrate. In the immediate aftermath of the bombings, France raised the level of its security procedure to the second highest. It also re-established its own border controls on July 9, a possibility permitted in exceptional circumstances under the EU Schengen accord.

Germany

The German parliament has called for increased surveillance of airports, train stations and underground networks.

There will be no-fly zones over World Cup 2006 stadiums, and over Cologne when the Pope visits next month. The Central Council of Muslims in Germany has recommended increased monitoring of German mosques.

The interior minister, Otto Schily, says it is necessary to give more power to the federal police. Under the constitution, there is a strict divide between the duties of the federal police and those of the police for Germany's 16 states, which often leads to delays tackling crimes such as international terrorism.

Spain

Security has been stepped up at several monuments associated with the country's Islamic past. The cathedral at Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, supposedly home to the remains of St James, this week stopped anyone entering with a bag or rucksack. St James, also known to Spaniards as "the Moorslayer", is reputed to have appeared on a white horse to help Christians during the "reconquista" of the Iberian peninsula. Authorities said they would also be boosting security at Granada's Alhambra Palace complex, built by the Moorish kings.

Scandinavia

Danish authorities have increased police presence across Copenhagen's transport system and have called for heightened awareness at airports, railway stations and shopping centres. Earlier this month, the country received threats from a group claiming to be linked to last year's Madrid bombings, who demanded that Denmark pull its troops out of Iraq. In Sweden, the government is to introduce a bill later this year to make it easier to call in the military in case of an attack. However Sweden, like its neighbour Norway, is considered at a low risk of a terrorist attack.

Belgium

Officials in Europe's capital city, host to the headquarters of the EU and Nato, are divided over its readiness to cope with a terror attack. Véronique Paulus de Châtelet, the governor of Brussels, claimed that the fire department had failed to draw up emergency plans for more than 600 soft targets, including hospitals, tube and train stations. But Francis Boileau, the fire department's spokesman, insisted plans had been drawn up for all government, EU and Nato buildings and the city's public transport network. Poland

Poland feels vulnerable to terrorist attack. It has 1,600 troops in Iraq and has been one of the most stalwart US allies in the war. Warsaw's metro system had to be closed down recently following 7/7 and a hoax bomb threat. But the president, Alexander Kwasniewski, has insisted there is no intelligence indicating a greater threat to Poland since 7/7 and the government has announced no emergency measures. Several Poles died in the London bomb attacks. Because of the country's small immigrant or Muslim community, the authorities feel they are less exposed to attack. But a popular new novel, An Attack on Poland, in which al-Qaida affiliates blow up a Warsaw shopping mall, is feeding public anxiety.

Eastern Europe

From emptied subway systems to deserted parliaments and shopping malls, the countries of central and south-eastern Europe have been edgy and anxious since 7/7. But there is little evidence that elements from indigenous Muslim communities are turning to terror. In Bosnia, Albania and Kosovo - majority Muslim countries - the US remains popular because of its role in the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s.

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